It’s still not easy for me to say, “I’m bipolar.” I have always felt torn between the reality of the pain I feel and the invisibility of the beauty I know. Despite hosting a podcast and writing a vulnerable book about my challenges with bipolar disorder, I still feel a tinge of terror when I tell people about this aspect of my identity. After wrestling with various terminology over many years, I have come to view the reappropriation of the label bipolar—separate from pathology—as a necessary activity. Here’s why:

Mad thinkers, movers, and shakers, as well as neurodivergent and marginalized folks of numerous locations, have shown me that what we think of as pathology exists in relationship—with ourselves, each other, and our environments. Ideas that psychopathology exists in the vacuum of one's isolated experience only serves to silence discourse and marginalize divergent experiences. If nothing else, it reveals a rudimentary comprehension of human development. Because I can't quite come up with the perfect name for such a conglomeration of radical thought, I am calling my holistic model The Mad Triangle until further notice. I particular felt the need to publish a blog post about this, to document much of what I have been presenting lately in group settings, workshops, and dialogue.

Carl Jung coined the term synchronicity to describe “meaningful coincidences,” the coming together of inner and outer events that are not themselves causally connected. For Jung, the meaning attributed to these events—the connection of one’s mind to material reality—is a function of the unconscious psyche, which is inextricably united with the phenomenal world. Jung saw these connections present in dreams, symbols, and universal archetypes across all cultures.

“You are Jesus! You are Buddha!” Master repeatedly shouted into the microphone. His voice bounced around the small, dark room where I was being initiated, or brainwashed, or maybe even becoming enlightened. There were about twelve of us students, but I knew his words were for me. He was affirming something I had already intuitively understood, if only through psychosis.